Again and again I see the comments of how crazy it is that we allow violence in films/TV/anywhere, but not sex which is peaceful and harmless -- as if this were some kind of idiocy or hypocrisy. There's a good reason we try to draw lines between areas where sex is "allowed" and "not allowed" -- because it's arousing and has the potential to be greatly embarrassing . It's private , in a way that violence isn't. I seri…
That's completely a cultural artifact though, there's no reason to be squeamish about sex and to accept violence.
Plenty of cultures have much looser taboos around this than yours, its not how human beings are wired.
>Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. Bring up Muslims or Roma people to a European and you'll find this isn't a uniquely American problem.
Whoah there. Just because the parent is painting all Americans with one brush doesn't mean we have to reciprocate.
The OP said "several", not "all". Racism is undoubtedly a problem in Europe, it's just directed at different groups, and "not ALL..."ing Europeans won't make the problem go away.
I find the US prudishness thing so fascinating. I'm travelling at the moment, and meeting lots of Americans (and Europeans for contrast). There's definitely a huge difference in tolerance for swearing and blasphemy. Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. I guess it all comes down to the religion. Americans do seem to be more religiou…
>Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. Bring up Muslims or Roma people to a European and you'll find this isn't a uniquely American problem.
Aye. Although essentially all of my UK friends are relaxed about Muslims, one of those friends stopped believing in Christians[1] because his local church congregation prayed for God to burn down a new mosque.
And anti-Gypsy sentiment is so socially normal in the UK that I have only ever witnessed (in person) two people defending them as ‘not a problem’.
[1] and possibly Christianity, though I never actually checked.
I find the US prudishness thing so fascinating. I'm travelling at the moment, and meeting lots of Americans (and Europeans for contrast). There's definitely a huge difference in tolerance for swearing and blasphemy. Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. I guess it all comes down to the religion. Americans do seem to be more religiou…
>Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. Bring up Muslims or Roma people to a European and you'll find this isn't a uniquely American problem.
Those are cultural differences, not genetic ones (for the most part). I think that’s quite a difference as one can adapt over the time span of a couple of generations (or even immediately by strong willed individuals) while race is much more sticky and impossible to shake once you’re born into it.
Case in point, when a Roma family settles down, they can in theory just be another Eastern European family to those who don’t know their background. 28 years since the Berlin wall fell, Western European people are now pretty much used to mingling with Eastern Europeans. It’s the hardcore differences in lifestyle that makes a lot of people afraid of others, and those can change - e.g. see the integration of immigrants from Kosovo. I don’t think Syrians who stay will have a much different fate 20y from now.
My understanding is thst no one's actually saying 'sex bad', it's just that sex is a private endevour while violence is more universal.
The Church is definitely saying sex is bad, sex is a sin, must only be used for making children, not for pleasure, even in married couples. It's insane.
If you mean the Catholic Church, that is incorrect. That teaching is that sex is good, sex is not a sin by itself, but must happen in the correct context of a mutually consenting married couple and must be ‘open to conception’ (i.e. no artificial changes to the procreative ‘mechanisms’, such as condoms or birth control.) They even teach ‘Natural Family Planning’, which is basically how to enjoy sex in rhythm with woman’s fertility cycle so as to ‘naturally’ avoid conception.
Not practicing Catholic anymore but that’s what I was taught from the Catechism et al several years ago as a convert.
I find the US prudishness thing so fascinating. I'm travelling at the moment, and meeting lots of Americans (and Europeans for contrast). There's definitely a huge difference in tolerance for swearing and blasphemy. Also several well-educated and seemingly intelligent Americans who hold strong racist opinions. But that's another subject. I guess it all comes down to the religion. Americans do seem to be more religiou…
To be fair, no major Christian church teaches that enjoying sex is a sin. The Roman Catholic Church does teach that contraception is sinful. No major Protestant church does.
Every major Christian church teaches that enjoying sex outside of marriage is a sin and furthermore teach that it's sinful to direct your sexual desire toward anyone (or anything) other than your husband or wife.
They shame the expression and even the feeling of sexual desire that doesn't fall within those bounds, teaching that the sex drive is something to be "controlled" or completely squelched until/unless you're able to express it within the bounds of marriage.
Whoah there. Just because the parent is painting all Americans with one brush doesn't mean we have to reciprocate.
Then again that bit about the Roma is somewhat accurate. On the other hand majority of the Roma refuse to assimilate, and on a much deeper level than pretty much any immigrant at that, so it's possible to imagine why this prejudice lives on.
This is my point though -- European racism is portrayed always somehow "different". It's the exact same story and there are no excuses for it. Anti-Roma prejudice is no more rational or justified than any other prejudice, and it's just as violent and dangerous.
Again and again I see the comments of how crazy it is that we allow violence in films/TV/anywhere, but not sex which is peaceful and harmless -- as if this were some kind of idiocy or hypocrisy. There's a good reason we try to draw lines between areas where sex is "allowed" and "not allowed" -- because it's arousing and has the potential to be greatly embarrassing . It's private , in a way that violence isn't. I seri…
It feels as though you are answering the question "why are these things taboo?" with "because they are taboo!"
To be fair, no major Christian church teaches that enjoying sex is a sin. The Roman Catholic Church does teach that contraception is sinful. No major Protestant church does.
Lust is considered one of the deadly sins. I'm not sure where the line between "lust" and "acceptable desire" is, and I suspect most Christians aren't either - although marriage and procreation usually seem to be involved somewhere. There are far more unconditionally sex-positive religions.
Most Christians fail to live up to their own theology, however the thing itself is beautiful. In Catholic terms, lust is precisely the desire to have or use the other apart from love.
In theological terms an 'evil' is always a privation -- a lack of good and in this case a lack of love. It is a reduction or removal of some vital piece.
Just as a healthy garden has many necessary parts: soil, light, water, protection, seed, etc. healthy sex should have all of the following: Love, stability (via Marriage), openness to the possibility of creating life, be unitive psychologically and spiritually, desire the good of the other above self, pleasure, and a sacred character.
Lust undoes most of that leaving only pleasure intact. Lust is about taking. Love is about giving. Appetite placed above the good of the other is disordered (ie: an improper ordering of priorities).
Again and again I see the comments of how crazy it is that we allow violence in films/TV/anywhere, but not sex which is peaceful and harmless -- as if this were some kind of idiocy or hypocrisy. There's a good reason we try to draw lines between areas where sex is "allowed" and "not allowed" -- because it's arousing and has the potential to be greatly embarrassing . It's private , in a way that violence isn't. I seri…
I rarely see violence in the movies I watch. The result is that I squirm a lot when I am visiting my son and we watch some blockbuster showing heads being crushed by sledge hammers. I believe that you do not find that sort of thing makes you cringe. I believe the term for that effect is "desensitizing".
In the 1970's, I once watched a soccer game with a family in France. On of the advertisements showed a naked lady get out of a bath, with full frontal nudity, and hug a very handsome naked man. I was shocked, but my hosts were more intent on getting drinks before play started again.
And, sex is like air and money. If you have enough, it's not really interesting.